Time may only move in one direction - but just like a faster than light neutrino, let's ignore physics for a bit! Inspired by this comment from an anonymous author, we will take you to the years 1976 and 1989 and look at life through the eyes of a recent college graduate.
Admit it – when you woke up today you asked yourself this very question – “is it better to go to college or to become a truck driver?“. Well, so did we here at DQYDJ. Inspired by a Twitter conversation from our friends JT at MoneyMamba and Matt Allen at Rambling Fever, we had to ask… how much do recently minted college graduates make when compared to their truck driving contemporaries? I think we can fairly classify this as an ‘epic post’ – make sure you fully understand my methodology before complaining… then complain all you want in my comments section!
Lost in all of the discussion about the $1 Trillion in student loan debt, there being more student loan debt than credit card debt, Occupiers asking for student loan forgiveness, and even whether certain concentrations should receive loans with higher interest rates is an important question: Is college worth it?
Credit cards get a bad rap - one that is not entirely deserved. I've got this working theory that it has to do with their name - the term 'credit' may mean 'ability to obtain resources based on a future payoff', but the card is named entirely wrong: If the only purpose of your credit cards is to purchase things on credit you are doing things completely wrong. The true beauty of credit cards is that they are a liquidity tool; credit cards allow you constant access to funding... whenever you need it. So, let's look at the perfect strategy for turning your credit cards into liquidity cards!
We here at DQYDJ are constantly scouring the internet for gems which will help you with the financial aspect of your life. This post is no different and we even extend the courtesy to your family as well...
A very interesting study out of Texas Tech University asks the question: How is Financial Literacy Affected By Age? The results are very interesting. Even though the paper reports that households with ages over 60 years possess more than half of the wealth in the United States, a decidedly younger crowd, the 45-49 year olds, possess the most financial knowledge. The implications: while we know that there is a decline in physical and cognitive capabilities which comes with aging, we should also note that with those cognitive changes may come curious financial decisions as well.
Tying to an article earlier that my colleague PKamp3 wrote, personal finance seems to have taken a dive in popularity in more recent years. As a writer for a confessedly self-aware personal finance crowd, this assertion may seem irrelevant, surprising, or, at worst, alarming. As a young college graduate, many of my fellow coworkers (as well as I) have student loans as one of their more significant financial obligations on top of car loans and (soon) mortgages. Some plan on paying down their student loans as fast as possible to deleverage themselves and then start saving for a home. I am of a different and not necessarily correct opinion: to hold onto the student loans for as long as possible due to their incredibly low interest rate and tax-deductibility for incomes up to $60,000 (partial deductions up to $75,000).
It's a topic we've covered here at DQYDJ before, and we'll definitely do it again in the future. Every once and a while everyone needs a reminder: if you qualify, open a Roth IRA. If you have one and you aren't funding it: do it. Here's a rehashing of why!
I know, this is a topic we here at DQYDJ have covered before... specifically back on July 2nd, 2009 when gas was averaging the incredible price of $2.63. This specific article was inspired by the recent comeback gas prices have made - gas today average $3.33 a gallon nationwide, according to Fuel Gauge Report from AAA. However, today we're going to give you the opportunity to calculate what it would take for you to hedge your gas prices with our nifty gas price hedging calculator!
It's often mentioned that bringing lunch to work is one way to economize on our normal routines. Simply making a great amount of your food at home, especially when it comes to how you eat during the work day, is worth some huge amount of money annually which if only a person could find the motivation they would be marginally rich. Is that the truth? Probably not, but we here at DQYDJ want to tackle this conundrum for you anyway. Let's assume you're in and out of the workplace in a whopping 40 years and play with some numbers!
The number to keep your eye on, obviously is a $200,000 annual salary if you're single and a $250,000 combined salary if you're married. These, as you likely know, are the lines in the sand drawn by the current administration to determine who is 'rich' and who isn't. Does the electorate agree? For the most part. A Marist poll showed that 55% of Americans believe that a household income over $250,000 means you are wealthy, while 45% disagreed.